Speaker: Justice must be served with Hamilton

In 2009, House Speaker William J. Howell called for the House of Delegates to investigate then-Del. Phil Hamilton on whether he parlayed his legislative influence into a $40,000-a-year job.

When Hamilton resigned later that year, the inquiry dissolved because it lacked the authority to proceed.

Now that federal prosecutors have formally taken up the case, Howell said he hopes justice will be served.

"Today's decision by a federal grand jury reflects the seriousness with which I and others viewed the alleged offenses," he said in a statement. "How a public official performs his or her governmental duties must be above reproach and unquestionably within the bounds of law."

Howell was among a handful of officials who reacted Wednesday to news that a federal grand jury had returned an indictment charging Hamilton, 58, with bribery and extortion.

The controversy grew out of Hamilton's relationship with Old Dominion University in Norfolk.

Hamilton, then an influential legislator, introduced an amendment to the state budget that provided $500,000 to create a teaching center at ODU. Hamilton was soliciting a job at the center at the same time that he was advocating the amendment, according to e-mails between Hamilton and ODU officials.

The resulting flap dogged Hamilton through his failed reelection bid with Del. Robin Abbott, D-Newport news. Reached for comment, Abbott said she had just heard the news.

"I'm as shocked as anyone else," she said.

She said she never made the ODU controversy part of her campaign, and now the judicial process must play out. She struck a conciliatory tone toward her former opponent, saying she has "great respect for the time he sacrificed," now that she's been in office for a year.

The issue prompted ethics reform legislation in the General Assembly, including an effort from House Democratic Leader Ward Armstrong of Henry County.

Armstrong succeeded in changing the rules so that a lawmaker could not escape an inquiry by resigning office. It also requires proceedings to be held in public once an inquiry has moved beyond a preliminary investigation.

"The whole indictment is regrettable," he said. "Today is not a good day."

Armstrong said he thought the changes were important, "but that doesn't mean that ethics reform is ever over."